Legacy Goblins kicking it

Not too long ago, I attended a third Legacy tournament in my MTG career and as always, I fell in love with the format. Yea it’s expensive and not as popular as Modern or Standard, but it has it’s charms indeed. Getting to know Legacy is a fun process if you manage to do well doing so.

I know I’ve made many misplays, and so did my opponents, but because I lack the knowledge of the format I cannot pinpoint those misplays as I would like to. However, I managed to prowl an Earwig Squad against Show and Tell and Elves to end both games on the spot. Goblin Settler in the main was probably an overkill and should be another Gempalm Incinerator or Tarfire, but Krenko was great as he won a game versus Eldrazi. I even got to kill my opponent with Tuktuk Scrapper when he was on 1 life, so it gets a nod before Tin Street Hooligan. Grenzo was good and while it’s a non-bo with Ringleader, it’s just awesome when it flips one. Siege-Gang Commander from the bottom of the library is also decent, to say the least.

The tournament didn’t start well, however, as I lost 0 to 2 against Burn that burned me before I could do anything. Maybe it was mulligan to five in both games, and I should have kept the starting 7 in game 1, but what is done is done. The next match was against something bluish that scooped after Earwig Squad in the first game, but won the second leg on the back of Omnitell Emmrakul. Game 3 I manage to Red Elemental Blast his Show and Tell to seal the deal, 2 – 1 for the goblins and 1 – 1 in the tournament.

My third opponent was a buddy who plays Modern as well, so it was a cool and laidback best of three series that ended in tie after a long game 2. I really can’t tell for sure but I felt like it was my series to lose, and I almost lost it in the end. He was on Nic Fit (probably) and we exchanged blows after I managed to win first match and barely finished the second one in time, so we extended our hands and shook on a tie. We both took our time during the second game for some nonsense so it was our (my) fault that we couldn’t end the match. Oh well, I’m 1-1-1 at that point while having fun and waiting for my next opponent to get ready.

Round 4 went really well, but not for the Elf player in front of me who had all kinds of mana problems. It’s sad to win like this, yet I have to give some credit to Goblin Sharpshooter who carried in game one and Earwig Squad who took away his three win-cons. Both matches were fast as he struggled to find mana and enough dorks to establish a board position while my little green man took care of the rest. 2 – 0 for me.

Next match was also fast, so fast that I didn’t really know what exactly he was playing (it was Aggro Loam). Both games were regular beatdown backed up by mana denial and card advantage of Goblin Ringleader, and I can’t really comment on the match-up because I was just playing my cards to it’s best while my opponent couldn’t do much, so maybe I was lucky, maybe not.

I am at 3-1-1 before the last round I am paired with a friend of mine on Eldrazi (3-2). We laughed as those “teamkills” are kinda frequent and facing each other in a win-and-in (top8) series is just another tip of the iceberg. Needless to say, this is not a bad match-up for goblins and I am barely able to take the match 2 to 1. It really comes down to the dice roll and the number of mana denial cards we see as Goblin pilots. Anyhow, the score 4-1-1 was enough for the 4th place, my best placement on a Legacy tournament to date.

Playing with Aether Vial and Goblins in Legacy made me want to try something similar in Modern, but the lack of core cards makes it hard for the deck to translate into the younger format. Goblins in Modern are pure balls-to-the-walls aggro, while the Legacy counterpart plays like Midrange Control with a good beatdown. I might try something soon, but until then I will stick to playing Vial Goblins only in Legacy.

Speaking of which, next Legacy tournament is scheduled for 4th of December, so get ready folks!